Locking mechanism for motor vehicles



Aug.l23 1938. l M. 'rusia-:TTSv l 2,127,543

v LOCKING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR vEHICLES l Filed Jan. l5, 1936 -f "lume 4 vwc/wbo@ MLTUN 17175557715 ing mechanism and particularly is Patented Aug. 2,3, `1 938 UNITED STATES LOCKING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Milton Tibbetts, Detroit Mich., assignor to Packard Motor Car Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application January 15, 1936, Serial No. 59,205

10 Claims.

This invention relates to motor vehicles, and particularly to the locking mechanism thereof.

The present-day conventional automobile door locking mechanism comprisesv a latch boit for each doorwhich may be `operated by a handle on the outside of the door or by a handle on the inside of the door. The inside handle, or some other device on the inside oi' the door, may be moved to a locking position so that the latch bolt may be locked against operation from the outside. This permits the operator on the inside to individually lock all four doors .against outside intrusion. Usually the right front door ls provided with an outside key-operated lock for l5 locking the latch bolt of` that door against retraction. Thus the operator may lock the other three doors of a four-door vehicle before he leaves the vehicle and then lock the right front door on the outside, thus securing all four doors against outside intrusion.

There is a demand by some motor vehicle owners for an additional locking means for the rear doors, a locking means that cannot be opened by children in the rear`compartment, because these owners feel that vchildren are not safe in the rear compartment with the present locks. due tothe fact that even when the rear door handles are placed in locked'posltlon, they are easily operated and the doors can be opened n by children: If this is done when the vehicle is moving rapidly; a serious accident may result.

There is also a demand from some motor vehicle owners for an easier means of locking all four doors of the vehicle against outside intru- 85 sion. Thus it is desirable that the rear doors may be locked without reaching over the back of the front seat and if the rear doors can be so l locked then the four doors of the vehicle can y be more easily locked from the inside and three of them can be locked from the inside and the fourth from the outside with a key, so that both forms of locking are more easily accomplished.

It is also believed that some motor vehicle owners prefer the present individual door lockthis true with c chauieur-driven vehicles.

With these conflicting preferences, the man# ufacturer would have to have several different forms of locks and give the purchaser the option 5 0 of choosing which of them he would have, and

this would increase the cost and add to the diiilvculties of the sale of vehicles./ v

It is one of the objects of the present inven'- tion to provide a lockingl mechanism that may 55 be used in various ways to meet' thevarious demands, and yet will not materially add to the expense of building the vehicle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a locking mechanism for motor vehicles that will facilitate locking all of the doors either `from the inside or the outside.

Another object of the invention'is to provide a locking mechanism by which one of the doors of a motor vehicle will be locked when another adjacent door is closed.

Another object `of the invention is to provide a locking mechanism for adjacent doors whereby the latch bolt of one door is locked by the latch bolt of the adjacent door.

Another object of the invention is to provide an interlocking mechanismy between adjacent doors which may be moved to and held in an inoperative position, so that the doors may be operated without the interlocking mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide door interlocking means in which there are rioV additional projecting parts.

` Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description taken from the drawing forming a part of this specification and in which:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view through adjacent doors and the door pillar of a motor vehicle, showing one form of `the invention, both doors being in fully closed position.

' Fig. 2 is similar to Fig.. 1, with one of the doors unlatched.

Fig. 3 is an` enlarged section showing theA mounting of the interlocking dog, such section being taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a section, substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

.Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of'Fig. l.

Fig. 6 shows the principal -interlocking e1ements of Fig. .1 with the interlocking dog secured in inoperative position.

Fig. 7 is a section substantially onv the line 1-1 of Fig. l; and

Figs. 8, 9, and 10 show three dilerent positions of the interlocking dog.

Referring to the drawing, I0' represents that portion of a motor vehicle forming the post or pillar between two of the doors. It is shown as built up of a channel member II and a shallower channel member l2' which are .welded or otherwise secured together. A strip oi wood I3 is arranged in the channel of the member I2 for sound-deadening purposes and for attachment of upholstery. I

Two of the doors of the vehicle close against Cil the post Il, and in the drawing the front door is indicated at I4 and the rear door at I5. In addition, these doors are marked front and rear.

On the rear door side of the pillar II is the usual'keeper or striker plate I6 secured to the pillar as by screws I1 threaded through the sheet metal of the pillar and into a threaded block I8 welded or otherwise secured to the pillar. A keeper or striker plate I9 is similarly secured to the pillar Il on the front door side thereof. Each of the'striker plates has the usual two notches, the plate I6 having the rst notch 20 and the second notch 2l and the plate I9 having rst notch 20 and second notch 2|', the lirst notch of each plate being for the purpose of retaining the door in its nearly closed position if, for anyreason, it fails to catch on the second notch.

The front door I 4l has the usual sliding latch bolt 22 spring pressed outwardly towards the pillar II by the usual spring 23 and guided by a pin 24 operating in a slot 25. 'Ihis pin also limits the inward and outward movement of the latch bolt. The outer end of the latch bolt 22 is curved or beveled as at 26, so that it will slide over the striker plate in the usual way when the door is closed.

The usual means for retracting the latch bolt may be connected thereto, and in Fig. l of the drawing an outside door handle 21 is shown, having a shank 28 connected by the usual means (not shown) for retracting the latch bolt, and a link 29 adapted for inside manipulation, for the same purpose.

On theother, or rear side of the pillar 'I I, the

- rear door is provided with a sliding latch bolt 30 similar to the latch bolt 22 of the front door, and there is also a similar door handle shank 3l and an inside door releasing means similar to those on the front door, for operating this bolt. Also, the front door may be provided with the usual key locking mechanism, not shown.

The interlocking means of this invention is shown in Fig. 1 in the form of a dog 40 having a hooked portion 4I at its rear end and a bent end 42 at its forward end, the end 42 extending approximately 90 degrees from the direction of the4 hooked end 4I. The intermediate shaft portion 43 of the dog extends through openings 44 in the pillar I and is provided with shoulders 45 which abut against plates 46 which are welded or otherwise secured to the pillar, so that the dog may rotate on its longitudinal axis, but is prevented from being moved axially with relation to the pillar.

'I'he dog 40 is yieldingly held by a ilat spring 41 to one end of which it is secured as by a rivet 48 and the other end of which abuts against a portion of the pillar as shown at 49 in Fig. 3. With this spring construction the dog 40 may be ro tated through 180 degrees and the spring 41 will return it toits original position when released.

The latch bolt 30 of the rear door has the upper part of its forward end formed with a beveled surface 50, and just back of the beveled surface is a recess I into which the hooked end 4I of the dog 40 may extend when it is not in itshorizontal, position. It is shown in that position in Fig. 1,"

recess 5I of the latch bolt 30.

turn the dog on its axis. As this turning movement takes place the hooked end 4I at the other end of the dog moves to its horizontal position into the recess 5I of the latch bolt 30. Of course this movement is again the action of the spring 41, which is thereby coiled to some extent, and upon withdrawal of the latch bolt 22 the spring 41 returns the dog 4010 its former position, in which the hooked end 4I is entirely out of the recess 5I and Within the confines of the notch 2 l f the striker plate.

From the above description it will be seen that with the rear door closed the act of closing the front door will lock the rear door. Thus, with the latch bolt 30 in the position shown in Fig. l, the closing of the front door will cause the latch bolt 22 to ride over the notch 2| and move rearwardly, so that its beveled face 52 will contact with the end 42 of the dog and rotate the latter, so that the hooked end 4I thereof will enter the As long as the dog is in that position the latch bolt 30 cannot be withdrawn by operation of either of its handoperated devices, that is, it cannot be Withdrawn by operation of either the outside door handle or the inside door handle. To unlock the rear door, the front door latch bolt must be withdrawn, and this can be done only in case the front door latch bolt is not locked by its key-controlled mechanism. If not so locked, the latch bolt 22 may be withdrawn by operation of either the inside or outside door handle, and as it is withdrawn the spring 41 returns the dog 40 to its unlocked position, as shown in Fig. 2, the hooked end 4I then extending vertically downward and out of the recess 5I. In that position ofthe dog the latch bolt 30 may be withdrawn by either of the handoperated means.

Should the front door be closed before the rear door is closed, the hooked end 4I of the dog 40 will, of course, be in the position shown in Fig. 1, and as the rear door is then closed the latch bolt 30 will move -forwardly and the beveled portion 50 thereof will engage the hooked end 4I of the dog 40 and further rotate the dog against the spring 41 until the end 4I slides over the beveled surface 50 into the recess 5I. The latch bolt 30 will then be locked against withdrawal until the front door latch bolt is withdrawn as above described.

Should it be desirable to disconnect the interlocking device, this may be done in the present invention, thereby making the latching mechanisms of the two doors independent of each other. With the front door open the dog 4l) may be rotated 180 degrees from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 6. And the dog may then be held in that position by a catch 53 pivoted at 54 and having a ange 55 at its outer end for operating. Thiscatch 53 will prevent the dog 40 from being reversely rotated by the spring 41, and as long as the dog is in the position shown in Fig. 6 there will be no interlocking action between the latch bolts of the doors. This position of the catch 53 is shown in Fig. 6. If the catch 53 is returned to the position shown in Fig. 1 the interlocking dog will immediately return to its operative position and will again act to lock the rear door when the front door is closed.

It will be noted that this interlocking mechanism is entirely within the margins of the striker plate, and there is nothing projecting from the edges of the door except the usual latch bolt, so that there is nothingadditional to catch the clothing of a person entering or leaving the vehicle.

The three positions of the interlocking device are well shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. In Fig. 8 the dog is in its non-locking position, the hooked end 4| extending downwardly so that it does not enter the recess 5l of the latch bolt 30. The bent end 42 is in .a position to be operated upon by the latch bolt 22 when the front door`is closed.

" \In Fig. 9 the front door has been closed and the beveled surface 52 of the latch bolt 22 has turned the dog so that its bent end 42 extends upwardly and its hooked end 4I is in the recess 5i of the bolt 3l), thus locking the bolt 30 to the striker plate and preventing it from being Withdrawn by the usual hand-operated means. The locking dog and its associated parts are of sufficient strength relative to the bolt operating means that the latter will be broken or disabled before the locking dog will give way. In Fig, 10 (and in Fig. 6 also) the dog 40 has been turned to its inoperative position, where it may be held by the catch 53 above referred to, and in this position the doors may be independently operated.

While I have herein described in some detail a specific embodiment of my invention, which I deem to be new and advantageous and may speciflcally claim, I do not desire it to be understood that my invention is limited to the exact details of the construction, as it will be apparent that changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1, In a. motor vehicle, the combination with` two doors each having a latch bolt, of locking means for one of the doors comprising a rotatingl dog operated by one of the latch bolts to lock the other latch bolt.

2. In a motor vehicle, the combination of two doors, each having a latch bolt, of locking means for one of the doors comprising a locking dog extending from one latch bolt to the other, and means for yieldingly maintaining the locking means in unlocked position.

3. Door locking means comprising latch bolts for two doors and means extending from one latch bolt to the other and operated by one latch bolt for effecting locking of one door by the other door.

4. In a motor vehicle, the combination of front and rear doors, each door having a latch bolt, and means extending from one latch bolt to the other for locking one of said doors by the movement of a part of the other door movable relative to said other door.

' 5. In a motor vehicle, the combination with two doors each h'aving a latch bolt, of means dogging the latch bolt of one door from the other door, said means operated by one of the latch bolts.

6. In a motor vehicle, the combination with two doors each having a latch bolt, of means clogging the latch bolt of one door from the other door, said means interconnecting the latch bolts.

7. In a motor vehicle, the combination with two doors each having a latch bolt, of means dogging the latch bolt of one door from the other door, said means operated by one of the latch bolts to lock the other latch bolt.

8. In a motor vehicle, the combination with two of the doors thereof, of latch and lock means for said doors comprising a latch bolt for each door, striker means for the latch bolts, and locking means for locking one door from the other, said latch and lock means being wholly within the fore and aft confines of the doors and strikers except those parts thereof comprising the latch bolts.

9. In a motor vehicle, the combination With f two of the doors thereof, of latch and lock means for said doors comprising a latch bolt for each door, striker .means for the latch bolts, and locking means for locking one door from the other, none of said latch and lock parts other than the latch bolts extending fore and aft beyond the doors or strikers.

10. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a door having a latch bolt, a door pillar having a keeper for the latch bolt, interlocking means in the keeper and latch bolt for retaining the latch bolt against withdrawal, a second latch bolt, and means on the second latch bolt for moving the interlocking means into locked position.

` MILTON TIBBETTS. 

